Developers slam NSW system

Developers say the NSW Coalition government has failed to come up with a workable way to deal with development applications for state-significant projects, following the rejection of major housing projects that offered significant housing delivery but were opposed by local councils.

The industry has questioned the logic of recent decisions by the independent Planning Assessment Commission to reject applications, including the first stage of Lend Lease’s $3 billion Calderwood housing development near Wollongong and an apartment development in North Ryde by EG Property Group, despite the NSW Department of Planning recommending they be approved.

The PAC is working through development applications submitted under the former NSW Labor government’s controversial Part 3a legislation which allowed developers to bypass local government for applications considered state significant.

The NSW Coalition repealed the legislation in a move to hand planning powers back to councils, but some argue this has left the system unable to make tough decisions on critical projects.

“The pendulum has swung so far with the repeal of part 3a that it creates some considerable difficulties with how a lot of these significant projects are going to be properly and effectively evaluated," said John Wynne, managing director of planning consultancy Urbis.

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Developer EG Property Group hired Urbis to handle a controversial application for a $112 million apartment development on a 12,300 square metre site near Macquarie Park station in Sydney’s north-west.

The site is surrounded by detached houses. The plans for 196 apartments in up to eight storeys brought complaints from the neighbourhood, and Ryde City Council opposed it.

EG argued the proposal fronts Epping Road, a major arterial road, and is across the road from the Macquarie Park industrial and commercial precinct. It is along the newly built Epping to Chatswood rail link, and major urban development is planned for the area.

An assessment report by the director-general of the NSW Planning Department concluded its scale, height and form were appropriate and would increase housing supply close to employment and transport.

The PAC rejected the proposal this month, arguing extra traffic, noise and overlooking would affect homes in the area, and it did not fit in with Ryde Council’s Local Environmental Plan. “The council intends to carry out a housing study and possible rezoning south of Epping Road including this site over a five- to 10-year period," the PAC report said.

EG Property Group chairman
Michael Easson
said he would be challenging the decision in court.

“It’s ludicrous that one ground for rejection is that the council hasn’t got around to writing up a strategic plan on land use changes for the Epping to Chatswood rail project announced in 1994," Mr Easson said.

In another controversial decision, the PAC last month rejected a stage 1 proposal for Lend Lease’s Calderwood 4800-lot subdivision in the Illawarra region south of Sydney.

The NSW government approved a concept plan for the proposal in 2010, and the director-general, together with the Growth Centres Commission, recommended it be approved. Shellharbour City Council and Wollongong City Council launched an unsuccessful court action to stop it.

The PAC argued it did not fit the land release strategy in the area, was a flooding risk, and was not in the public interest.
Chris Johnson
, chief executive of developer lobby group Urban Taskforce, said the PAC was making political decisions despite the NSW government’s stated aim of “taking the politics out of planning".

“The PAC . . . must be properly briefed by government that they are to independently assess planning proposals against the planning rules," Mr Johnson said. “In a number of recent cases, these panels seem to be acting more like arbitrators trying to keep all parties happy."